Djokovic will no longer work with the Argentine physio he thanked for the 2021 Australian Open title

Novak Djokovic landed on Tuesday in Adelaide, where from Sunday he will play an ATP 250 which will serve as preparation for the Australian Open, the first Grand Slam of the season, in which he will be looking for his 22nd title in that category. Great challenge for the former number one, who will start the season with an important change in the squad. It is according to the Serbian media sports club, Freight concluded the professional relationship with the Argentine physiotherapist Ulise Badiowith whom he has been working every day for more than five years.

Although neither Djokovic nor Badio have announced the split, which occurred because the two sides could not reach an agreement on how to continue the partnership, according to reports sports club-, the Serbian showed himself this Wednesday, in his first training at the Memorial Discoin the company of the Italian physiotherapist Claudio Zimagliawhich helped him acclimate his body before starting work.

Born in Santa Fe and raised in Carlos Paz, Badio studied kinesiology and physiotherapy at University of Córdoba and completed his education in New Mexico, Valencia and Rome. She specializes in shoulder, elbow and hand disorders, has knowledge of Chinese medicine and nutrition and acupuncture.

He met Djokovic when he was on the medical staff of the Rome Masters 1000 and in 2017 he joined the personal team of the Serbian, who at that time was looking for solutions to his elbow problems. And he ended up becoming a fundamental piece in the career of Freightthe only one to whom the current number five in the ranking has entrusted his physical well-being.

“It’s a 24-hour job. I have to follow him at all times, even when he’s sitting, to see what his posture is, or to know how much water he’s drunk or how much he’s eaten, or if he’s talked for a long time with someone on the phone, because every little detail can upset him in a game,” the man from Santa Fe said in an interview with the newspaper Aceat the end of last year.

“I need to know how he’s going to sleep, all the things he needs, making his electrolyte drinks, what he needs to drink the night before, what he eats… I need to be in control of all this. This is the outside. When I physically treat him , comes the part where I have to work manually with a therapy so that it is in optimal condition,” he added.

Badio was instrumental in establishing Djokovic at the 2021 Australian Open. At that tournament, the Serbian suffered a minor abdominal tear in his third-round match against the American Taylor Fritz. But he was able to continue playing and ended up lifting the trophy thanks, in large part, to the Argentine’s “miracle hands”, as he himself acknowledged.

At the award ceremony, al Rod Laver arenato which Nole dedicated some special words uulias he calls it.

“A special ‘thank you’ for you. You have had a great dedication for a long time. Thanks for giving me the chance to play”the Serbian told him. Badio responded by touching the heart area with his right hand.

Djokovic will now face another chapter with Zimaglia. The Italian is a professor at the Turin Academy of Osteopathy and has extensive experience in elite tennis. In the past he has collaborated with Milos Raonic, Jannik sinner and, more recently, with the American Brandon Nakashima. And also at the prestigious Piatti Tennis Center in Riccardo Piattione of the men who helped the Serbian the most during his adolescence, when he had to leave the Balkan war behind him and continue his sporting growth on Italian soil.